EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL AS MANAGEMENT TOOL FOR INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY IN IBOM POWER COMPANY

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1   BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
In any evaluation of the condition necessary for the growth and survival of an organization, the role of employee performance appraisal is a strategic factor. It is believed that both the individual and the organization need to know how well actual performance is contributing to the accomplishment of the job plans, the staffing plan, and ultimately the overall strategic plan of the organization. In addition, the individual employee requires feedback relative to his or her own goals development, as well as that relative to management’s expectations.
Employee Performance appraisal is a formal and systematic assessment of an employee to determine the degree to which the employee is performing his/her job effectively. It is usually made in a prescribed manner of specific intervals such as quarterly, bi-annually or even annually. Each employee at one time or the other wants his immediate boss or more still his employer to assess his on-the-job performance, and where necessary give him guidelines or advice for improving his efficiency. An effective performance review system serves these general purposes. In other words, as Nwachukwu 1985 puts it, “the essence of performance appraisal is to give information for the promotion, demotion, transfer, pay increase, training and development and discharge of an employee”. Secondly, it provides employees with constructive on how they are performing in their jobs as viewed by their managers, thus leading to increased productivity. Therefore, in any organization, manpower remains the most prominent and the most valuable assets among other factors of production. It is this reason performance appraisal is given recognition as a tool to improve organizational activities.
1.2   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Since the study seeks to examine employee performance appraisal as management tool for increased productivity in Ibom Power Company. It therefore attempts to identify various employee appraising techniques, some common appraisal problems and how proper performance appraisal can enhance increased productivity in Ibom Power Company.
1.3   OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The purpose of writing this project is to investigate into how employee performance appraisal can enhance increased productivity in Ibom Power Company. The study will among other things try:
•         To find out the various employee performance appraisal techniques used.
•         To examine the implications of employee performance appraisal and productivity.
•         To provide bases for reward employees in relations to their contribution to the organization.
•         To identify some common appraisal problems of employees and how proper appraisal can enhance increased productivity.
•         To make some used recommendations to management.  
1.4   STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESIS
A hypothesis is a conjectural statement of relationship between two or more variables. They are always in declarative sentence form, and they relate either generally or specifically, variable or variables. They are particularly necessary in the studies of this nature where cause and effect relationships are to be discovered. H1:   Performance appraisal techniques provide formal management procedure used in the evaluation of work performance in the organization. H0:   Performance appraisal techniques do not provide formal management procedure used in the evaluation of work performance in the organization.
1.5   SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
•     The study is of vital importance to organization’s effectiveness, hence the result will be useful to the organization in developing effective and efficient performance appraisal plans and programmes to aid the organization in its goals attainment.
•     The importance of this study therefore is to research into those benefits that performance appraisal could bring to the organization, employer and the employees alike.
•     The study could also be valuable as source of reference to students of management studies who mighty carry out similar or further research in this area.  
1.6   SCOPE OF THE STUDY
 The study would squarely concentrate in analyzing performance appraisal techniques in Ibom Power Company. The researcher has related the study only to the areas that are related to the topic such areas are: performance appraisal, techniques for performance appraisal.
1.7   LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
 In a developing country like Nigeria, students are normally faced with grave shortage of relevant facts necessary for their research work and mine is not an exception. However, confidence and ability are best assets every human being must possess. The following are some of the constraints encountered during this project work.
•     Insufficient Textbooks and High Price Tags: In Nigeria nowadays, in purchase good and comprehensive textbooks for reading to further research on a typical issues. It will cost an average of three thousand naira and an average student cannot lay their hand on it as a result of the economic situation.
•     Time Factor: In this part of the country and due to classroom lecturers, it often hinders someone to concentrate more one it project writing because part of the time are used in classrooms and to further participate in classroom group discussion and assignments.
•     Finance: This project work involves huge financial expenses such as photocopy, typing and movement from one point to another to gather information. The financial problems not only hindered movement but also discourse ones enthusiasm in learning.
•     Personal Limitations: Personal time available for recreation resting and washing are partly engulfed by this study in attempt to beat the expiration time for submission.
1.8   DEFINITION OF TERMS
•     Performance Appraisal: It is a process or series of formalized discussions with an employee about performance over a specified period of time.
•     Manager: A person with the task of planning, organizing, directing, coordinating and controlling organization’s resources to attain the objectives of the organization.
•     Productivity: It is the “quantity or volume of the product or service that an organization provides” (Decenzo and Robbins, 1989).
•     Effectiveness: This is concerned with the art of getting the right things done, in the right way, at the right time and for the right purpose.
•     Efficiency: It is concerned with achieving an objective or producing product at the least cost to enhance organization achieves the main objective.
•     Organization: An enterprise established by a person or group of individuals; government in order to provide goods and services for the satisfaction of human needs.
•     Management: This is the process of planning, organizing, directing and controlling both human and non-human resources effectively and efficiently towards the attainment of organizational goal.